Four new Union City Chamber of Commerce board members were sworn in by Mayor Mark Green on February 23 - Heidi Finberg, Gloria Watson, Peter Fan and Barbara Aro-Valle. Incumbent board members Perry Gonzalez, Joshua Stone and Julie Zhu attended the ceremony.

The formal US Chamber of Commerce was founded on April 22, 1912, at the suggestion of President William Howard Taft as a means of forging a link between American businesses and the federal government. Today, the Chamber has grown to represent more than 3 million businesses, nearly 3,000 state and local Chambers, 830 associations and more than 90 American Chambers of Commerce abroad.

As local business people, they have a realistic perspective on the needs of businesses in Union City and ideas on how to attract other companies to the city. Their goal, as stated on their website, is to improve "the economic climate in our local community by providing resources and opportunities that enable our member companies to thrive and achieve unprecedented success."

"It gives me great pride to represent the Chamber... I think you're going to see 'The Little Chamber That Could' this year," said Heidi Finberg, Chamber of Commerce Chair. "The Chamber will launch the "Shop Union City" project. Thank you for supporting us, financially and mentally, and in all the things that you do...you're going to see some really neat stuff happen."